CCM Plastic

[floridagrimp]

What Mr. Duckman said was true about stabilizer being amber. I was the first one to post that it was amber, got shouted down by a couple guys (couple guys pm'd me confirming the amber color)...but I knew it was amber, nothing "perceived" about it, different than it had been in past.

It doesn't affect how I view the product as I don't remelt light colors w/stabilizer, I usually use remelts in a darker formula. I've used other brand...it ran me out of the building, that stuff has to be very bad for you.

Do-It's does the job, it is odorless, doesn't smoke, wish they sold it in larger quantities (five gallons)  and it tastes great and is less filling!!!

don't know about the UV product...it does what they say it does (under a blacklight), don't know how fish react to it...sure someone, some company will have a video out on fish biting UV and rejecting a non-UV bait!!!

[Hookset]

   Reason I asked about colour of the heat stabilizer was, everything I have been told over the years is, all plastisol has heat stabilier in it to keep from oxidation I believe is what they call it. So if a companies heat stabilizer in a bottle is tinted, I would assume its the same stabilizer that they put in from the get go into the plastisol. Thats what I would think causes issues.

[captian chaos]

I have spoken to Ryan at Do-It a couple of times now and can say that i am very pleased with the outcome over this whole plastic yellowing debacle.
He was most apologetic and showed genuine concern that i wasn't happy with the product and is willing to work with me to rectify the problem, not bad considering i am on the other side of the world.
That being said i would recomend anyone that has concerns or problems about anything from Do-It to simply give them a call it was a good experience for me.

[BigBoyBaits]

Ordered a bottle of stabilizer last week, it is crystal clear, not a bit different than it ever was when I ordered from Jason. Also, I have tried it all, from MF, Calhoun, Chemonics, LC, and CCM plastisols and CCM stands above the rest for me. However, I have had some experieneces with the plastic yellowing with small AND large batches. It only seems to yellow on lighter colors, and to agree with Frank, it always yellows after the plastic comes out of the microwave, as it is cooling. I have since then watched my temps very carefully, and I now take my cups out of the microwave 10% earlier than normal, relative to the cup size and plastisol amount. This has totally solved my yellowing problem, I have even reheated the same cup of clear for dipping over 10 times with no yellow. I also use stabilizer in every batch, and clean my cups AND stirring utensils (maybe an overlooked variable?) with hot water before I pour every time. I will agree fully that this plastic is touchy, you can be on the perfect temp and then 10 seconds later it will be yellowed and the batch ruined. It takes a bit more time to really get the timing down, which will in turn slow down production for guys making hundreds of baits in a session, but for small to medium volume manufacturers I think it's a good trade off.

Just my thoughts 

[andrewlamberson]

Below is a link to a post I made a about 1.5 yrs ago where we were discussing microwaves and how long they continue to cook (and raise temperature) AFTER you pull the cup of plastic out of the microwave.

Also discussed is how your high wattage microwave could make a big difference in heating (and burning ...which is what the yellowing is) of your plastic.

I have very little issues with yellowing/burning plastic...but maybe it's because I use a low wattage microwave now.

I also heat in smaller increments...4 oz for 2 minutes, then in 20-30 second intervals to get it to temperature. I never "reheat" more than 1 minute at a time. I've had plastic go from too thick to inject (with clumps from the sprue, runner and left over injector plastic) to burning in less than a 2 minute heat cycle.

Thinking back, I did have a high wattage microwave and I did have issues with plastic yellowing (scorching) back them ...and not just CCM plastic which was "new" back then. I remember setting my microwave to 50% power to keep from burning the plastic (and obviously learning to go to shorter heat cycle times).

The other "Must" is a turntable in your microwave to avoid spot heating which is a big issue with cooking food in a microwave. There is no doubt that scorching starts and the bottom center of the Pyrex cup.

I wonder how much the cups we are using to heat our plastic is contributing to the over heating issue??? I used silicon cups (Jason recommends them) for a long time and the do heat much more evenly than Pyrex. I just got nervous about how floppy they were.

http://www.caneycreekmolds.net/index.php?topic=667.msg3362#msg3362   

From that post:

Also, remember that anything that is microwaved may continue to "cook" for a period of time (the molecules stay excited and vibrating)!!! Don't think so? Heat you plastic to 350 and stir with the digital food thermometer (the long stainless steel probe is perfect for that) and watch how high you temperature goes!!! I'd bet if you are heating to 375...the plastic is going over 400 degrees within the first 30 seconds out of the microwave.

From: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/microwave_ovens_and_food_safety/index.asp#14

Microwaves cause water, fat, and sugar molecules to vibrate 2.5 million times per second, producing heat. After the oven is off or food is removed from the oven, the molecules continue to generate heat as they come to a standstill. This additional cooking after microwaving stops is called "carryover cooking time," "resting time," or "standing time." It occurs for a longer time in dense foods such as a whole turkey or beef roast than in less-dense foods like breads, small vegetables and fruits. During this time, the temperature of a food can increase several degrees. For that reason, directions may advise to let a food "rest" for a few minutes after turning off the oven or removing food from the oven.

I set my microwave down to medium at the end of the heating cycle...or I often get scorching. This is probably more important if you have a high wattage microwave ...which will cook faster than a lower wattage unit.
(read the "Time-to-Boil Test" in the above mentioned article).

[Hookset]

  Jerry was kind enough to IM me about Plastic after I joined. He mentioned he did'nt have any pots that he uses, and on here every post I have read, or at least that I remember reading was using microwaves. So my question is, does any one use presto pots with any stir systems to heat their plastics and how did the plastics do as far as this topic is related too, yellowing?

[Bassman2169]

I use home made presto pots for bigger batches.  I really don't do many light colors in the larger batches, so I don't know about the whites and such.  I do a light watermelon for some baits and never noticed the color changing or yellowing in the pot.  Joey

[Shane]

There are loads of great info coming out of this thread, I hope it continues on the path it is.   I haven't started pouring yet buy am gathering things as finances allow and  I want to thank you all for sharing your trials.

[jsnyd86]

What a thread!!!

I just recently noticed my plastic turning yellow but am almost certain I over heated it when I was warming it back up. Now I use a little bit of that hard yellow plastic as filler when I create darker colors so I save a little virgin plastic. I don't dip eyes much but plan to start so I hope this is resolved.

I think putting issues up on the forum is no big deal, but the piggy backing gets a little redundant and hard to get to the bottom of an issue when you have to read through 6 pages of identical issues. Im still  a new guy though so Ill just stand by to see how this plays out.

[biglewers]

I have never had my plastic turn yellow unless I nuke it for an extreme amount of time.  I don't know, maybe there was a bad batch of plastic one time and it happened to get out.  I have order 50 plus gallons and have never had a problem with it.  Even when I do add the Heat Stabe.  I have noticed however that gold glitter does not like to be reheated more than once.  It looses its luster fast.

[Buffy]

My heat stabilizer is clear, order 2 different times, a few months apart.  1st one 5.5 oz. bottle=clear, 2nd one pint=[clear, this was last year.  The worm oil I also ordered last year, 1 pint=clear!